United States presidential election, 2016

    The United States presidential election of 2016 was the 58th and most recent quadrennial American presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. TheRepublican Party nominee, businessman Donald Trump fromNew York, and his running mate, Governor Mike Pence ofIndiana, defeated the Democratic Party nominee, formerSecretary of State and former Senator Hillary Clinton fromNew York, and her running mate, Senator Tim Kaine ofVirginia. It is estimated that 131.7 million Americans cast a ballot in 2016, out of 231 million eligible voters—a turnout rate of 56.9%.

           In the United States, Election Day is the day set by law for the general elections of federal public officials. It is statutorily set as "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November". The earliest possible date is November 2, and the latest possible date is November 8 (as it was for the 2016 election).

For federal offices (President, Vice President, and United States Congress), Election Day occurs only in even-numbered years. Presidential elections are held every four years, in years divisible by four, in which electors for President and Vice President are chosen according to the method determined by each state. Elections to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate are held every two years; all Representatives are elected to serve two-year terms and are up for election every two years, while Senators serve six-year terms, staggered so that one third of Senators are elected in any given general election. General elections in which presidential candidates are not on the ballot are referred to as midterm elections. Terms for those elected begin in January the following year; the President and Vice President are inaugurated ("sworn in") on Inauguration Day, which is usually on January 20.

Many state and local government offices are also elected on Election Day as a matter of convenience and cost saving, although a handful of states hold elections for state offices (such as governor) during odd-numbered "off years", or during other even-numbered "midterm years", and may hold special elections for offices that have become vacant. Congress has mandated a uniform date for presidential (3 U.S.C. § 1) and congressional (2 U.S.C. § 1 and 2 U.S.C. § 7) elections, though early voting is nonetheless authorized in many states.

Election Day is a civic holiday in some states, including Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,West Virginia, and the territory of Puerto Rico. Some other states require that workers be permitted to take time off with pay.California Elections Code Section 14000 provides that employees otherwise unable to vote must be allowed two hours off with pay, at the beginning or end of a shift. A federal holiday, Democracy Day, to coincide with Election Day has been unsuccessfully proposed. Other movements in the IT and automotive industries encourage employers to voluntarily give their employees paid time off on Election Day.

5 Strange U.S. Voting Traditions and Where They Came From

The United States is pretty old, and so are some of our voting traditions. Here's a list of some of our most unique practices and where they originated.

1. The Electoral College

Think the president is the guy who gets the most votes? Think again. The citizenry does not directly choose candidates, rather we choose electors for each state, who in turn, vote for our president.

Each state has a different number of electors, and therefore a different impact on the total election. The electoral college system in its original form was actually a compromise decided on in the 1787 Constitutional Convention, because small states feared they would be trampled on by larger states in presidential elections. A state's number of electors is mostly informed by their size, equaling their number of seats in Congress.

Therefore, the minimum number of electors for each state is three. But, because in most states, a candidate can win all of the electoral votes, by getting the majority of the popular vote, swing states like Ohio become incredibly important battleground to securing a victory. Meaning, if you live in Ohio, your vote may matter significantly more than it does in states like California or Mississippi.

In 1876, 1888, and 2000, the winner of the election was not the person who won the plurality of nationwide support. Read more here about the electoral college here.

2. Voting On Tuesday

Every four years, Americans vote for a new president on the first Tuesday (after the first Monday) of November. In 1845, it seemed like a good idea. The Federal Election Commission explains why we vote on Tuesday on their website:

"Since most residents of rural America had to travel a significant distance to the county seat in order to vote, Monday was not considered reasonable as many people would need to begin travel on Sunday. This would, of course, have conflicted with church services and Sunday worship."

And why the first Tuesday after the first Monday? FEC says, "Lawmakers wanted to prevent election day from falling on the first of November for two reasons. November 1st is All Saints Day, a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics. In addition, most merchants were in the habit of doing their books from the preceding month on the first."

Now we honor the day out of tradition to the frustration of some groups, like Why Tuesday,which advocates voting on a non-working day so that more voters can make it to the polls.

3. Voting in November

Like the Tuesday thing, the November thing seems to be a bit outdated.

The Federal Election Commission explains that it was because America was once a "predominantly agrarian society" and this was the most convenient month of travel for those who harvested our food.

"Lawmakers took into account that November was perhaps the most convenient month for farmers and rural workers to be able to travel to the polls. The fall harvest was over, (remembering that spring was planting time and summer was taken up with working the fields and tending the crops) but in the majority of the nation the weather was still mild enough to permit travel over unimproved roads."

4. No Drinking and Voting

Since the 1787 Constitutional Convention, federal law has imposed few constraints on elections and left most smaller decisions up to the states -- creating an interesting patchwork of state-specific laws.

In some states they'll call the Sheriff to haul you out of the voting booth if you take too long (no more than three minutes in Indiana). In others, like Utah, you won't be able to buy any alcoholic beverages the day of the election.

Two years ago, Indiana repealed their Election Day liquor ban which had been put in place during the prohibition era.

"We've lobbied for this for a number of years. It's an old, antiquated law that needed to be taken off the books," the chairman of the Indiana Beverage Association Don Marquardt told the Indiana Herald Bulletin.

5. Voting Stickers

Those little stickers that you get after you've come out of the polling booth haven't been around forever. Many states and counties design their own, and it's unclear when the trend became a national thing. The Florida-based National Campaign Supply company claims to have designed the "original" iconic 'I Voted' sticker now used in polling places across the country. The design, they say, was first printed in 1986.

Different stickers are still used in different areas, and many predate the 1986 design. This "I Voted Today" design used in Phoenix and Maricopa, is a year older than the National Campaign Supply design used by many polling places around the country today. And the"I'm a Georgia Voter" stickers, are perhaps the most adorable, with the lettering stamped across a vibrant Georgia peach. In hopes of saving money, some counties, like Knox, Tennessee, have stopped distributing the iconic stickers to the frustration of a few of their voters.